


you mean a lot to me, i wanna be your man

by varulve



Category: Pitch (TV 2016)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-30
Updated: 2016-12-30
Packaged: 2018-09-13 12:02:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9122722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/varulve/pseuds/varulve
Summary: an anon on tumblr sent me "Can you not with your tags? The Cubs and Mike winning the World Series, him retiring, and immediately flying back to San Diego for Ginny is too much to handle right now." in response to my tags:#:) do you ever think about how mike probably would've retired if he'd been traded and the cubbies won #do you think about how mike would've gotten the last thing he wanted in the game so he'd leave it so he could get the only other thing #he wanted because that night at bar would've been differentanyways i decided to write that so enjoy





	

After the champagne had been popped, celebrations finished, chants of promised visits to Disneyland - which Mike truthfully wasn’t even sure was still a thing - one ice bath and a long, hot shower later Mike looked at his phone.

“Congrats on getting your ring, old man.”

The text notification lingered on his screen until the phone dimmed again. Mike clicked the home button again and read the message again, his heart hammering quickly back to life as he quickly unlocked his phone and opened the messaging app to stare at the text some more.

She hadn’t so much as acknowledged him for the last month. He’d shot her a couple of ‘congrats rookie’ texts after she threw a no-no that Mike sorely wished he had caught. Livan had made a couple of plays that a younger Mike Lawson might have pulled off, including tossing out the loser who tried to bunt and break her no hitter.

Assholes like that were reason careers ended, if a pitcher was stuck with an older catcher who couldn’t get to their feet quickly enough, well they’d do anything to protect that no hitter including fielding the ball themselves. 

Part of him was glad he hadn’t been there, but it still stung when she hadn’t responded to his message. Blip had been giving him the cold shoulder too, but that was easier to stomach.

After all, he hadn’t kissed Blip, he’d only let him down.

So now, seeing this message from her, it felt like an opportunity that he could only mess up. His fingers hovered over the keyboard before mumbling a quiet ‘fuck it’ and switching to his contacts to call her.

She didn’t pick up until the fourth ring, and the other end of the line was quiet while they both settled into the weight of the conversation that wasn’t ready to be had. 

“Hey rookie,” he finally breathed and he could almost hear the eye roll on the other end of the line as she let out a short breath of annoyance. He grinned and settled a little deeper into the sofa in his Chicago apartment. “How’s it feel having completed your first season in the MLB,” he tried to keep his voice light and conversation away from anything serious.

Ginny, it seemed, wasn’t on the same page, “when are you coming back?” It wasn’t really a question and she said it so quickly Mike took a second to actually process the words.

“Back where,” he felt cagey, did she expect him to suddenly come back to the Padres? That wasn’t exactly up to him, and he sure as hell wasn’t ready for the way he’d be greeted upon arrival. Who ditches their team of fifteen years to go play with a team for a month, win a ring, then bounce right back.

Nah, that certainly wasn’t how it worked.

“To San Diego,” she said, her voice tinted with an unsaid ‘duh’ and he felt stupid for a moment. “I mean, me and some of the guys want to take you out for drinks and hear all about how it was winning it with the Cubs,” she added after a moment of quiet between them.

Mike ran a hand over his face, trying to suppress the deep sigh that was welling up in his chest and threatening to spill out. “I don’t know yet, haven’t scheduled a flight. I know I’m San Diego’s golden boy - or was, do people hate me now? - but I won’t lie Chicago is kind of nice,” that was a complete lie. The colder weather made his joints ache, he missed the sunshine and predictable weather, he missed her but he had to play it aloof.

He had let her make the call outside the bar that night, and he wasn’t going to change that now.

“Oh,” it sounded like genuine surprise to Mike, and it broke his heart. “I’m, uh, glad that you like it there then. I’ll tell the guys to cancel the banner they had ordered in that case,” the more she talked the more Mike felt guilty. 

“Yeah, yeah that’s probably for the best,” he mentally cursed himself and shut his eyes for a moment. “I miss you Baker,” he finally admitted after another stretch of silence crept between them. “And, well, I was thinking since I’ve got my ring now I might just hang up the cleats and call it a day with the whole baseball thing, but, we never- we never really talked about that night at the bar, Ginny, and - well maybe if I retire we could talk about it?”

She didn’t respond, and for a couple of heartbeats he thought she might have hung up on him until a quiet voice replied, “I miss you too, Mike.” He felt a heat spread throughout his chest and it took all his will power not to find his laptop and buy tickets to San Diego right then and there. “When you come back her,” her voice was louder and more surefooted than it had been. “We’ll talk, you bring some grape soda and I’ll get some food - no cilantro - and we’ll see where it goes.”

“I’ll call you when I land tomorrow,” he teased and smiled brightly as he heard her laugh on the other end of the line. “You think I’m joking until I’m showing up at your door and you haven’t even called out for the takeaway,” her laughter only doubled and Mike felt his whole body relax.

Finally she quieted and let out a soft sigh, “tomorrow?” It seemed more like a way to confirm he was really ready for whatever they were about to delve into than teasing him about how overly eager he was.

“Tomorrow,” he repeated. The line went quiet again but Mike didn’t feel any anxiety about it, they sat in the comfortable silent for a few beats longer before quietly saying goodbye and hanging up.

Mike sat on the sofa for awhile before getting up to pack the handful of items he had unpacked to begin with, then sent a quick text to his agent telling him to notify the Cubs they wouldn’t need to pick up the rest of his contract and to write up some statement announcing his retirement.

Phase one was done, phase two - well it was a little bit different than what he had initially thought but so long as he had a chance to have some happiness - to have Ginny - hell, he’d take it over being an analyst any day.

Besides, after she retired (supposing they were still together) they could become the greatest horseshoes playing pair in the South of France.


End file.
